Tree-insulator.



C. E. PHELPS.

TREE INSULATOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2. 1914.

1,200,976. Patented Oct. 10, 1916.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1916.

Application filed February 2, 1914. Serial No..815,910.

provide an improved device of this general class for protecting electrical conductors at points where they pass through or immediately adjacent to the branches of trees.

In carrying the invention into efiectl provide a simple and inexpenslve device by means of which the conductor to be protected will be held completely inclosed and kept out of contact with the branches of trees, the device being preferably of skeleton form 1n order to reduce the weight to the mimmum. Simple and inexpensive means are also employed for holding the parts of the device in assembled relation and in positlon for engaging the conductor to'be protected.

In the drawings I have illustrated an embodiment of my invention in which- Figure 1 is a perspective new of a tree insulator in operative relation with a conductor and a tree; Fig. 2 is an enlarged end elevation of said tree insulator; Fig. 31s a side elevation of a portion of the same on the same scale, the parts being shown closed in this view as well as in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an end elevation similar to Fig. 2, except that the device is open for receiving a conductor to be protected; Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively an inner edge view and a slde elevation of the upper and lower transverse 1 nsulating elements shown in Fig. 4, and Fig. 7 is an end elevation of a modified form of insulating element which will be hereinafter described.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.

A device of the class described has the double function of protecting a conductor from injury and also of preventing chafing and burning of a tree through which such a conductor passes. It is especially important to provide suitable means for insulating covered conductors carrying currents of high amperage or voltage as the insulating covering of these is quickly rubbed through when subjected to much chafing by rough branches. As before stated, a tree insulator should be both light and simple in construction as well as inexpensive, and it should also be so made as to be readily attached to and disconnected from the conductor to be protected.

I prefer to employ an insulator consisting of a skeleton frame divided longitudinally into sections between which the conductor to be protected will be engaged, these sections belng illustrated as having complementary Wire-receiving grooves in the meeting faces of the sections. Here the insulator is divided into two main parts, designated generally byA and A, each of which is or may .be identical in construction with the other.

Each of the sections shown comprises a pair of longitudinal members, preferably wooden strips 2 and 2, and each also has transverse insulating elements, such, for example, as the porcelain, blocks or cleats, 3 and 3. These transverse insulating elements, as well as the longitudinal members, may be of any suitable number and may be located in any desired positions. Each pair of upper and lower transverse elements 3 and 3' constitutes a single transverse insulator and head serving to space the longitudinal elements or strips 2 and 2' properly, while permitting all the parts to be securely held together. In the present case only two transverse insulating elements are illustrated, one at each end of the device, these being sufiicient to engage the conductor properly and constituting with the strips 2 and 2 a skeleton frame or cage for the conductor having the minimum of weight and in which the distance from the opening through which the wire is intended to pass to the outer surface of the insulator is relatively great as compared with the diameter of said opening.

It will be noticed that each of the blocks 3 and 3' is comparatively thin, that is to say, it has a relatively short surface for contact with a conductor, such as C, to be protected. In addition to saving weight this also has the further advantage that the narrow gripping face of the block is able to bite readily into the covering of said conductor. At the point of engagement each block or cleat 3 and 3 has a concavity, preferably threaded, as shown at 4' and 4', for the purpose of gripping the conductorG and preventing longitudinal movement thereof. Itwill be evident that when properly gripped between two pairs of insulating blocks at opposite ends of the device the In order to locate the two sections of the skeleton frame readily and properly each of the insulating blocks preferably has suitable projections or recesses, or both, in the meeting-faces thereof at opposite sides of the grooves 4 and 4' just described, suitable projections and recesses being shown at 5, 6, 7 and 8. t

The longitudinal elements 2 and 2 and the transverse elements 3 and 3' of the skeleton frame tree-insulator just described may be held together in an suitable manner. Usually the transverse e emcnts are formed with rectangular cut-outs, such as 9, to receive correspondingly shaped longitudinal elements, the rods or strips 2 being also shown here as rectangular in cross-section. Thus, these rods o-r strips may be seated at the corners of the elements of high insulating capacity and, as shown, be permitted to project far enough beyond the transverse insulators to protect these parts from injury, the wood strips in the construction shown serving to inclose and protect not only the conductor C but also t e transverse porcelain insulators as well. The strips 2 and 2 and these transverse elements may be secured together by any suitable means. In this case there is shown as the preferred means of connection wires passing substantially around the longitudinal and transverse elements of the device in the planes of the several transverse insulators. The construction shown in the main views is one in which each wire passes through transverse openings in the longitudinal and transverse-elements, the wood strips being shown as having apertures, 10 and 10, adapted to register with corresponding apertures, 11 and 11, in the porcelain insulators. When a wire, such as 12, is passed through the registering o enings of the upper and lower sections in t e manner shown in Fig. 4, it will be evident that these two sections are practically hinged together at one side so that they can be readily opened and closed at the other side to receive and hold the conductor C. A tight (grip is obtained by simply twisting the en s of the wires together, as by pliers, in a well-known manner.

In Fig. 7 there is illustrated a modification of the transverse insulating element in which instead of forming transverse apertures through the element 3" a comparatively deep groove, such as 10", is made in the surface of the block. With a transverse insulating element of this kind the wire can be quickly put in place by simply wrapping it around the exteriors of the assembled elements without threading it through openings, as is necessary in the construction shown in the preceding views. The insulator shown in Fig. 7 of course has the advantage of being simpler in construction than those shown in the other figures.

' It will be obvious from the foregoing that when the several longitudinal and transverse elements of my improved device are assembled and the connecting wires 12 are in place, as illustrated for example in Fig. 4, the device as a whole forms a one-piece article the parts of which are held together by the frictional engagement of the wires 12 with the walls of the openings through which they pass, and that because of this the work of placing the skeleton frame on the conductor 0 and clamping it to said conductor is very easily and quickly accomplished; By tightly twisting the ends of the wires 12 together a very strong grip of the threads 4 and 4: is assured. The removal of the cage when repairs are necessary is also a simple matter, as it is merely necessary to untwist the ends of the wires and lift the skeleton frame from the con ductor.

, What I claim is:

1. A device of the class specified, comprisin an insulating skeleton frame made up 0 spaced longitudinal members and transverse insulating members connecting and spacing said longitudinal members anddivided longitudinally of said frame into transverse insulating sections having complementary wire-receiving grooves in the meeting faces thereof, said longitudinal and transverse members also having complementary transverse wire-receiving grooves therein, and wires passing through said transverse grooves, for securing said sections together.

2. A device of the class specified, comprising an insulating skeleton frame made up of spaced longitudinal members and transverse insulating members connecting and spacing said longitudinal members and divided longitudinally of said frame into transverse insulating sections having complementary wire-receiving grooves in the meeting faces thereof, said longitudinal and transverse members also having complementary transverse wire-receiving grooves therein, and wires passing through said transverse grooves, and frictionally held therein for securing said sections together and holding them in a predetermined relation to said transverse wires.

Signed at Worcester in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts this nineteenth day of January, A. D. 1914. 

